This paper proves the existence of traveling wave solutions connecting liquid and vapor phases in a van der Waals fluid. The main constitutive assumptions are that the fluid be an elastic fluid(with pressure given by the van der Waals equation of state) possessing a higher order correction given by Korteweg's theory of capillarity and the fluid is a conductor of heat with large specific heat at constant volume. The main mathematical tool in the analysis is the Conley-Easton theory of isolating blocks. (Author)